Hebrew (HEBR)
Chairs: Professors Jackson Bryce, fall and Nancy Wilkie, winter and spring
Assistant Professor: Stacy N. Beckwith
Hebrew Courses
HEBR 100. Personal and National Identity in Israeli and Palestinian Literature In this course we will study the role played by prose fiction in filling the daily outlook of Israeli Jews, and Palestinians living in Lebanon, West Bank - Gaza and inside Israel, with distinct impressions and memories of "home." We will focus on pictures of the land, one's self and others that emerge from a selection of short stories, novels, and excerpts by Israeli and Palestinian authors of both genders, from 1948 to the present. We will also incorporate a number of films and documentaries that confront questions of identity and co-existence from Israeli Jewish and Palestinian perspectives. 6 credits cr., S/CR/NC, AL,RAD, Fall—S. Beckwith
HEBR 101, 102, 103. Elementary Modern Hebrew Think beyond the Bible! Modern Hebrew is a vital language in several professional fields, from international relations to scientific engineering. This course sequence is for students with no previous knowledge of Modern Hebrew or whose test scores indicate that this is an appropriate level of placement. We will continually integrate listening, speaking, and writing in Hebrew, incorporating popular Israeli music, radio broadcasts, and films, into level appropriate class activities and assignments. Hebrew 103 will introduce the Jewish settlement of Pre-state Israel (1880s-1948) as a historical theme through which students will build proficiency in literary, conversational, and newspaper Hebrew. 6 credits cr., ND, Winter,Spring—S. Beckwith
HEBR 204. Intermediate Modern Hebrew In this course students will strengthen their command of modern conversational literary, and newspaper Hebrew focusing this time on Israeli independence and nation building, or optionally, on a theme in wider Jewish history (no prior knowledge is necessary). As in the elementary sequence, we will continually integrate listening, speaking, reading and writing in Hebrew. Popular Israeli music, broadcasts, internet sources, and films, will complement the course's goals and class activities. 6 credits cr., ND, Winter—S. Beckwith
HEBR 221. Israeli Literature in the Middle East We will survey the development of Israeli fiction, focusing on how Hebrew authors square with the Western and Middle Eastern elements in their surroundings. We will examine how European and Arab Jewish immigrants imagined Israel as a nation (1940s - 1950s). We will then study Israeli literature from the 1960s through the 1982 Lebanon War (a cultural catalyst), and the contemporary peace process. With this chronology we may foreground women's writing in Israel, and we will include one work of Palestinian, Egyptian or Lebanese fiction to extend our regional understanding. In translation; a portion of the coursework in Hebrew for advanced language students. 6 credits cr., AL,RAD, Spring—S. Beckwith